VELVET RIBBONS AND FIERY HAMMERS

by Nanashi Yami

From chapter one: "[...]The expression in her blue eyes was strong, despite the shyness that had flaunted before. Lavi had listened carefully and heard something snap inside him. That girl had no origin, did not know where she came from. She was an outcast, she was ... different. Like him.[...]" LavixOC Please, read and review!

4. Blonds: are they stupid or jealous?

Hey there guys! I'm back! ;) Back with a new chapter fresh of translation! Soooo, let's say thank you first: THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO Jaxx Ren and Sylvia Andrews (who put the story in their favourite ones) and Saphire Castor (who put the story in her followed ones).
So, let's begin and please REVIEW! I'd love to know your opinion about my story!
I hope I'll see you again when I'll update next chapter (it will be as soon as possible, I promise! .).

Kiss XXX,

Yami =^.^=

CHAPTER 4 - Blonds: are they stupid or jealous?

Lavi regained consciousness after what seemed an impact with something very similar to a stone floor.
He opened his eyes lazily, his vision still clouded, and framed a particularly bizarre scene:
suspended a few feet above him were Angelica (upside down) and Allen, surrounded by a thick frame of strange flowers.
Both of them were struggling with all their might against those plants which seemed to be moving by their own will.
The boy sat up trying to find the knowledge of space and time, when he heard two voices coming from above.
One was Angelica who called him, the other was feminine yet unknown, so he raised his head to see whose it was.
When he saw the source of the sound he was completely enchanted: a beautiful blonde girl dressed in a purple dress was talking, well... she was now railing against his comrades.

-These creatures are his Excellency Aleister's beloved flowers! -

Angelica did not wait and immediately replied in kind.

-And these are three exorcists who are working! You know how much we care about the "his Excellency Aleister's beloved flowers"! -

She had just finished saying this phrase when she was distracted by something beneath her.

She looked down and saw something that nearly made her eyes out of their sockets:
Lavi looked completely crazy, he was staring with dreamy eyes that irritating blondie (as Angelica had called in her head that woman who had yelled at them, even though she was blonde herself!) and kept repeating: 'STRIIIIIIIIKE!'.
"The irritating blondie" became aware of the attention that had been addressed to her and began sending winks and mawkish looks at the red-haired boy, who began inevitably to jump around and laugh like a child.
Allen looked at him with wide eyes for a bit then, when he noticed some flowers dangerously close to his friend again, began to shout at him and call him.
Angelica on the other hand felt a sudden and intense killer instinct travel across every drop of her blood and barely kept the little calm that had remained her.
Lavi in the meantime was approaching the blond girl keeping his eyes fixed on her, and with that stupid smile on his face.
But before he could achieve his goal he felt something hitting his head vigorously and ended up sprawled on the ground.
He got up, shook his head to recover from the blow, and looked around in search of the object that had hitted him.
He noticed the fleeting flash of Angelica's ribbon receding behind him.
When he turned he completed the picture: Allen was looking at the girl with evident surprise while she still had her arm in front of her after hitting Lavi's red head with it.
Once she had his attention she began screaming at him.

-YOU IDIOT! Here we are risking our life and you waste time fooling around a bitch in heat and with doubts taste in clothes! Recover fast, fool that you are! -

The two boys looked at her without words, while the aforementioned "bitch etc.." did not seem to particularly like the comments that had been made on her conduct and her clothes, so she wrinkled her nose and said:

-I am Eliade, the assistant of His Excellency Aleister. What did you come here for? -

Allen looked away from his companion and said:

-We are looking for the villager who was taken away by the Baron!-

Eliade raised an arm to show that she was dragging something.
And that something was just the poor inert victim of Crowley.

-Talk about this? I was going to bury him! If you want it I'll give you! -

Said that she threw the body in the direction of the three exorcists, but they did not have time to catch it up because it was snapped up by one of those huge flowers and disappeared inside its huge jaws.
The boys watched the scene with wide eyes and when they turned Eliade was gone.
Suddenly the flower that had engulfed the man was completely covered in black pentacles and the same thing happened to all the other flowers around it.
Next there was a violent explosion and the three guys were thrown out of the castle through a huge hole in the wall, finding themselves in the park.

-WAH! We a-are incredible! I thought I would die! For a moment I seriously thought we were dead!-

Lavi expressed this comment with a liberating sigh, while recollecting breath.
Allen agreed with him.

-Our uniforms are amazing! We got by with only a few bruises! -

Angelica was still lying on the ground, breathing heavily to replenish oxygen in her body.
Then she got up and went to help Lavi, who had begun to vomit after a strong hit to his stomach.

-You can't be left alone for a moment that you make some mess ... next time you think of courting another stupid blondie please tell me, at least I'll stay at home! -

He listened, holding his stomach and breathing labored he asked her:

-Are you jealous, Ann? -

She helped him to stand up and glared at him.

-Jealous? For you? For goodness sake no! Don't be stupid! -
-Lavi! Angelica! Look! -

Allen's voice gave her an excuse to get up and walk away a few steps, but Lavi was still able to note the fleeting shade of red that had appeared on her pale face.
He got up and joined his companions who were peering at something in the distance.
Below them, at the slopes of a little hill of mud and soil, there was a small group of crosses.

-A cemetery ... -

Lavi declared:

-A rather poor cemetery, however. Do you think it's for animals? -

His companions watched the rudimentary graves with attention.

-What if these were the graves of the villagers that Crowley kidnapped? -

Allen nodded.

-Before that woman named Eliade said that she was going to bury Mr. Franz.-
-And then the number of crosses coincides with the number of victims. -

Lavi quickly counted the improvised tombstones and frowned.

-But they are eight ... did not Crowley killed nine? -
-Yes, but the mayor said that the first was vaporized, remember? -

While they were clarifying the situation Allen inadvertently bumped a cross, which broke and fell to the ground in pieces.

-AARGH! You broke it! -

The boy knelt gesturing worried.

-But I just touched it! Please, I'm sorry! -

Angelica came to his side and put a hand on his shoulder with the intention of comfort him, then she noticed something strange on the ground.
She moved a little dust with her fingertips and looked more closely.

-Hey, you two! Look at this! -

Her companions came to see what had caught her attention.
On the ground, confused in dirt and mud, there were small black pentacles.

-It's the virus in the blood of Akuma. -
-You mean... that an akuma was buried here? -

Lavi went to another cross and stared at the ground in front of it.

-Hey, here there are pentacles too! -
He mused a few seconds.
-Now that I think about it ... when the flower has devoured Mr. Franz I saw the pentacles... -

Angelica and Allen looked each other and realized immediately what their friend meant.

-Maybe it's because ... of course!-
-It was eating an akuma!-

They remained silent for a while, scanning one by one the rough graves around them.

-Guys, let's exhume them... maybe ... maybe we're making a big mistake! -

Lavi sighed.

-It seems that we have to do it to be sure, eh? -

Angelica nodded, unconvinced: violating a tomb was not exactly what she would have called the idea of the century.
'Deads should not be disturbed… akuma or human ...'
she thought, seriously.

The two boys had rolled up their sleeves and, equipped with shovels, began to dig in front of one of the wooden crosses.
Angelica had sat up and had looked at them working.
She wanted to help, but every time she had offered to do something they both declined saying to leave it to them strong and sturdy men (obviously Lavi's observation) and that women were too weak to dig.
So she waited, frowning all the time.
She waited and waited until a coffin of rough wood emerged from the soil, roughly nailed.
Allen and Lavi wiped the sweat from their foreheads and watched their work.

-We pulled it out, eh? -
-Yeah ... -

Too bad that now that most of the hard work was done and the truth was a step away from them, neither of the two seemed willing to do more.

-Uh ... hey Allen, why do not you open it?-
-What? No, uh ... you open it!-
-Come oooon, with the effort we did so far, don't you want to have this satisfaction? -
-Hell no, I willingly leave it to you! -

Angelica then lost her patience and passed them by pushing them both.

-Men... -
she muttered, glaring at them. Then she said aloud, in an evidently ironic tone:
-Leave it to me, a woman of strong and courageous... desecrate graves is not a job for you, little men! -

'Revenge!'
she smiled to herself after formulating the thought.
She approached the coffin and took the lid with trembling hands.
She sighed and lifted it.
The nails gently bent and the fragile wood broke to reveal a rotten and decaying body.

-The flesh is rotten ... it's an akuma! -

Under the skin become thin you could see clearly the basic structure of an akuma, complete with a pentacle on the forehead.
The three repeated the process with the remaining graves.
Lavi covered his nose and mouth with his scarf.

-It stinks! Well, now it seems obvious: they are all akuma. The pentacles on the ground are due to the leakage of substances that had within them, when the body has decomposed. -

Angelica dusted the soil from her clothes peering apprehensively at the bodies.

-So the baron hunted akuma all this time ... -

Allen, a few steps away, put his hand on his chin and thought about what they had discovered.

-And what if he attacked only akuma? -

Lavi stood up and pulled down the sleeves of his coat.

-It seems that this is not just a vampire hunt ... in fact Crowley is ... -

Angelica turned just in time to see a shadow move ominously behind the red-haired companion.
A shiver ran through her whole body like an electric shock.

-LAVI! Watch out! -

Too late.
Crowley struck the boy with superhuman strength and sent him against the outer wall of the castle, knocking him out.

-So it was you three? You've made me angry! -

Angelica and Allen brought close to each other nervously and looked in the direction in which the vampire was.
Crowley ran towards the two exorcists that barely kept ahead of his attack as they tried in every way to convince him of their good intentions.

-Mister Crowley, please! We are not going to eliminate you! -
-Please listen to us! -

He laughed in response.

-Hah! Are you that scared by seeing your friend die? -

Angelica at that sentence winced.
'No. .. he's not dead ... it cannot be. Stay calm ... calm down! '
Meanwhile Allen had deactivated his weapon, trying to attract the attention of Crowley to speak with him.

-Listen to what I have to say! The villagers buried in that cemetery are all akuma! Did you know it? -

Angelica tried to give him some help.

-Baron Crowley, are you sure to be a real vampire?-

He frowned.

-If I'm a vampire ...? -

There were moments of silence, where time seemed to have frozen.
Before he knew it, Allen found Crowley behind him.

-I do not care about the akuma ... -
He leaned forward and bit the boy on the neck, ripping even some hair strands.
-I just enjoy this great pleasure. -

He slid backwards taking away from the two exorcists.
Allen was holding his head with pained expression, and Angelica could hardly move, immobilized by fear.
Crowley meanwhile continued his soliloquy.

-I want to enjoy life as I want! Without ties or obstacles from anyone! You are not going to tell me how to live! -
He threatening turned in Allen's direction.
-For this... I'll kill you too! -

He hurled against Allen with unprecedented violence, blowing the boy against the outer wall of the castle.

-ALLEN! -

Angelica saw her friend whisked away and could not stop herself from screaming.
Crowley turned to her with a creepy smile on his face.

-And now it's your turn ... -

She gulped and grabbed the sword better.
She lowered her head and squinted, unable to do anything else.
Allen was gone... maybe Lavi was dead ... she was all alone and afraid.
A frightening roar took her back to reality:
before her eyes there wasn't that bloodthirsty vampire, but Lavi's hammer.
It was still gigantic and had missed Crowley for a few meters.
At the top of the weapon was the redhead, bruised, covered in blood ... but alive.

-Prr. Don't think that you can fuck with me, idiot!-

As soon as she saw him, Angelica felt an overwhelming joy shake her whole body.

-Lavi! Lavi, you're okay! -

It wasn't a question.
If she said it perhaps she could be convinced.
The boy looked down at her and smiled.

-Hey Ann! How's it going down there? -
then he turned his gaze back towards the vampire.
-You made me really a bit mad. Let's do this: before I massacre you and then we'll talk. -

Crowley, in turn, smiled.

-Interesting ... -

- ... And then the akuma are machines that are hidden in the body of human beings! -
-Tsk! -
-So you always have sucked the blood of Akuma! -
-Tsk! -

Lavi was trying to convince Crowley of their suppositions, obviously not sitting at a table.
While they spoke they were savagely fighting against one another.

-Hah! I do not believe you! If it were true at this point I should already be dead because of their poison -

Angelica tried as best as she could to help her friend in the desperate battle.

-It is not necessarily that! You might be a compatible parasite type, like Allen. In that case, the poison would have no effect! -

Lavi nodded.

-So far you have unconsciously attacked akuma. I believe that those hard teeth are made of Innocence. -
His statement must have aroused doubts in Crowley, because he stopped attacking and stood in silence to listen.
-If you like to hunt akuma, joining us you could have as many as you want. I decided to tell you before... it seems that we can't go easy on you. The answer give it to me when you wake up... Kuro-chan. -

He lifted his right arm, which was holding the hammer, and around him appeared some strange symbols which turned and turned.
Suddenly the vampire shrieked, clutching his head.
The two exorcists were completely stunned.

-O-ohi...? What's going on? -

The other leaned against a tree, still screaming.

-Is it possible that ...? Damn... I HAVE FINISHED THE FUEEEEEEEL! Impermissible! -

and he began to hit the trunk of the tree with his own head stammering something.
Lavi looked at Angelica, which gave him back the same quizzical look.

-He seems to be facing some kind of dilemma... -
-Yeah, it would seem ... well, never mind! This is a great opportunity, don't you think? -

They exchanged glances and nodded.
The boy swung the hammer with one hand while with the other he brought the companion near him.
He whispered in her ear:

-Be careful, you may feel a bit hot. -

She looked confused, a little for that strange statement, a bit for the fact that all of a sudden he had embraced her as if nothing had happened.
However she silently nodded, putting an arm around his waist.
The redhead became serious and returned to scrutinize those great symbols that revolved around them.

-Innocence... second level opening... seal! -
The marks stopped moving and Lavi hit the one in front of them.
-Gouka-Kaijin...-
The hammer began to emanate some crimson flames.
-Hi-ban! -

said this Lavi brought down the hammer on the ground.
On the ground appeared the same symbol as before, only much larger and of a bright red color.
From the circle came out some fire which wrapped Crowley from head to foot and dragged him through the walls of the castle.
Angelica watched the amazing spectacle in awe.
She heard the boy next to her grumbling.

-Do not worry, I restrained myself. -

The red symbol on the ground disappeared with the flames.
Lavi felt Angelica's arm tightening on his back.

-Hey, you all right? -

he asked worried.
She raised her head, her eyes bright.

-Yes... but warn me next time you do a thing like that... you scared the hell out of me! -

He looked at her for a while, that petite figure that clung to him with all her strength, then he sweetly smiled and surrounded her with both arms.

-It would not have the same effect, don't you think? I am a man full of surprises! -

She let him embrace her and held his arm.

-Even too much for my taste... before… I thought you were dead...-
She looked down.
-Do not make me... never again... such a joke... ok? -

He laughed.

-Of course... I promise! You worry way too much...! -
-It's you that make me worry! -

He laughed again.

-Now we get to see what happened to Allen and Kuro-chan, don't you think?-